Wait, I saw you mention Romania got some land as well - I assume they kept the Odessa Oblast ITTL?
a Valkyrie Rises Over Europe, a Alternate Story of the Cold War
- Thread starter Kaiser K
- Start date
Well there was this one aborted timeline where Babe Ruth ran for President, but we don't talk about that anymore.
That would be correct, as a result of the Nazi victory in the War ITTL, Romania ultimately did indeed get to keep the so called "Transnistria Governorate" (Basically modern Moldova and part of the Odessa Oblast) that they had annexed in our own world's World War II.
Well there was this one aborted timeline where Babe Ruth ran for President, but we don't talk about that anymore.
That would be correct, as a result of the Nazi victory in the War ITTL, Romania ultimately did indeed get to keep the so called "Transnistria Governorate" (Basically modern Moldova and part of the Odessa Oblast) that they had annexed in our own world's World War II.
I don't think Hammers and Sickles was that grimdark.
Probably not, but it wasn't pretty either, not on the level of unprettiness that is this; but still not pretty.
D'oh! First I forget what I did with Moscow three times, and now I make a mistake with the Channel Islands? dammit; of course I would do that.
I'll go with the map and say the Channel Islands are still under German military occupation through.
Now before we begin, I would like to inform you that the following update that you are about to read was not written by yours truly, but is in actuality a Special Guest Update written by my good friend Binky the Clown.
A while back, Binky came to me via PM and asked me if he could write a one off update for the TL about Spain, I agreed, and planned to have it as a special update for the 30th overall one, but delays have pushed it back to being the 31st.
In fact, Binky ended up writing what amounted to several updates worth of content about Spain, so instead of being a one off, the content he has written will be formatted into several proper updates and posted periodically in between my own work. Starting with this one.
With that out of the way now, let's begin reading; shall we?
Unlike in Germany and Italy where fascism rose to power through relatively peaceful means, the rise of fascism in Spain was a traumatic, bloody affair. Without the bloodshed of the Spanish Civil War, it is likely the Falange Española would’ve remained but a footnote in Spanish history. Prior to the Civil War, the Falange was shunned by the Spanish right because of its republican and national syndicalist platform. Many conservatives viewed the Falange as a group of crypto-reds, despite the Falange’s fierce anti-Communism. In 1936, the Falange had around 10,000 members and received less than one percent of the vote – a dismal showing, even by the standards of the 1936 election.
However, the rise of the Frente Popular and the subsequent Civil War in Spain resulted in the discreditation of traditional conservatism amongst the Spanish right. Their moderate approach had failed to prevent the left from seizing power, so a more radical solution was needed. With its violent, militaristic and fiercely nationalistic tone, the Falange was able to recruit thousands of new members. Its membership doubled twice over in the first months of the Civil War, and climbed to 650,000 members by 1939. The Falange was made the official political party of the Movimiento Nacional, absorbing the Carlist Communion Tradicionalista in 1937. Nationalist Caudillo Francisco Franco became Jefe Nacional of the Falange, while Ramón Serrano Suñer became head of the Falange’s Junta Politica.
Cuñadísimo Serrano Suñer, visiting the headquarters of the Leibstandarde SS Adolf Hitler.
An alumnus of the University of Bologna, Suñer greatly admired Italian Fascism and had been a close friend of José Antonio Primo de Riviera. Suñer hoped to achieve the goals of the Falange as part of the new, Nationalist government in Spain. Suñer was no stranger to politics, having served in parliament as MP for Zaragosza and as an official in the CEDA - Spain’s largest right-wing political party prior to the Civil War. Franco, on the other hand, was a career military officer who rose through the ranks of the Spanish Army. Franco was already well known for his exploits in Africa during the Rif War and for his brutal suppression of a miners strike in Asturias. Franco had joined the Nationalists after the assassination of José Calvo Sotelo, taking command of the Army of Africa on July 17th, 1936.
With the help of his brother Nicolás, Franco contacted Germany and Italy, who airlifted the Army of Africa to metropolitan Spain. By the end of the year, Franco had been proclaimed Generalísimo of the Nationalist forces and Jefe del Estado. Franco’s diplomatic ties to Germany and Italy, combined with the combat experience of the Army of Africa, propelled him to the top of the Nationalist hierarchy. Franco gained almost unlimited powers and a degree of control over Spanish life that the medieval kings of Spain could only dream of. While Franco was no José Antonio Primo de Riviera, he was sympathetic to the goals of the Axis and to the illiberal, militaristic ideals of fascism.
In March of 1939, Spain joined the Anti-Comintern Pact alongside Germany, Italy and Japan. This was a largely symbolic gesture, as Spain was still recovering from the devastation caused by the Civil War. Nearly 30 percent of Spain’s maritime tonnage had been destroyed, as well as half of Spain’s railway locomotives. Eight percent of Spain’s housing and more than a third of Spain’s livestock had been lost. On the eve of the Italian invasion of France, Mussolini contacted Franco, urging him to invade France alongside Italy. Franco declined Mussolini’s offer, believing the tide would eventually turn in the Allies’ favor.
It would take Spain nearly a decade to recover from the carnage of the Civil War.
After the Fall of France, Franco began to re-assess Spanish neutrality. Spain changed its stance from one of neutrality to one of non-belligerence, just as Italy had done before entering the war. Hours later, Spain occupied the Tangier International Zone. Franco proclaimed it “a temporary measure to guarantee the continued neutrality of the zone.” While Britain accepted this move, Franco’s decision to claim Gibraltar a month later was less well received. In September, Franco sent a communiqué to Hitler, informing the Führer that he was willing to join the Axis war effort in exchange for territorial concessions in Africa – namely French Morocco, western Algeria, French territory in the Sahara and Cameroon - control of Gibraltar and economic aid. Franco urged Hitler to attack Britain, citing the threat the Royal Navy posed to Spain and the continent at large, especially in the Mediterranean.
By late 1940, Hitler’s primary concern was preparing for the coming war in the east. A campaign against Britain would divert valuable resources from Operation Barbarossa. Hitler was also concerned about the state of the Spanish military, fearing that Spain would require substantial amounts of German reinforcement. The OKW determined that seizing Gibraltar would require two army corps, as well as significant amounts of airpower and heavy artillery. [2] Spain’s infrastructure was another concern, especially its railway network. Furthermore, Hitler was concerned that forcing Vichy France to cede territory to Spain would undermine the legitimacy of the Vichy government and result in the defection of French Africa to De Gaulle and the Allied camp. [3] With German troops already tied down in the Balkans, Hitler could ill-afford to expend any more manpower for the likes of Spain.
Less than a week after Operation Barbarossa began, Franco authorized the creation of the División Española de Voluntarios to fight alongside the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. The División Española would be placed under German command, but would technically be subordinate to the Army Ministry in Madrid. All officers of the Division Espanola were drawn from the regular army, as well as nearly seventy percent of its recruits. Contrary to popular belief, civilian Falangists comprised less than a third of the Division’s manpower. Franco’s annual address to the National Council – the Spanish equivalent of Mussolini’s Grand Council of Fascism – was peppered with pro-Axis rhetoric. He denounced “the eternal enemies” of Spain who engaged in “intrigues and betrayal” against it.
Franco went further, declaring “the war was wrongly conceived and the Allies have lost it,” concluding his speech by praising Germany for leading “the battle sought by Europe and Christianity for so many years, and in which the blood of our youth with be united with that of our comrades in the Axis, as a living expression of solidarity.” The ferocity and rhetoric of his speech came as a surprise to both the German and Italian ambassadors, who commented on the imprudence of these remarks. [4] By August, Franco’s remarks went from imprudent to prophetic as Leningrad fell to the Germans. This resulted in a surge of new recruits in Spain, eager to crush the Bolshevik menace. [5]
Francisco Franco visits the División Azul before they cross the Pyrenees and head to Germany for further training.
A month after Leningrad fell, Suñer met with Franco at El Pardo to discuss the German war in the east. Suñer suggested participation in the German war effort against the Soviet Union could serve as a means of acquiring vital economic and military aid. Despite his bombastic speech two months prior, Franco remained concerned about the consequences of direct Spanish participation in the war. Suñer informed his brother-in-law that he’d ordered Foreign Minister José Félix de Lequerica and Ambassador José Finat [6] to draft a plan of action that would prevent Spain from coming into conflict with Britain, while still aiding Germany and the Axis war effort. Three weeks after the meeting at El Pardo, Léquerica and Finat met with Von Ribbentrop in Nuremburg.
Spain offered to supply 60,000 troops and 300 pilots to the Axis war effort, as well as to stop selling wolfram on the open market in favor of a quota system. Doing so would greatly benefit Germany, since the sale of Spanish wolfram on the open market gave an unfair advantage to Britain with its larger reserves of hard currency. [7] To allay German fears of a renewed conflict in the west, Finat guaranteed that Spain would remain neutral towards Britain and Free France, regardless of Spanish territorial ambitions. More ominously, Spain also promised to close its borders to Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. [8]
Spain would pay back its debt from the Civil War in four instalments, which Germany would use to purchase wolfram. Germany, meanwhile, would provide Spain with a minimal amount of military material at cost, with further economic and military aid to be provided once hostilities ended. [9] On October 4th , 1941 - the same day Spanish troops entered into combat on the Eastern Front – the Léquerica-Ribbentrop Agreement was ratified by both parties in Berlin. With it, Spain became a co-belligerent in Germany’s war with the Soviet Union, while simultaneously maintaining a façade of neutrality.
Back in Madrid, the Army Ministry reorganized the Division Espanola de Voluntarios into the Cuerpo Española de Voluntarios, while an air wing known as the Aviación Legionaria was established to fight alongside the Cuerpo Espanola. Falangist Generals Agustín Muñoz Grandes and Juan Yagüe Blanco were placed in charge of the volunteers. Grandes was one of the most prominent neo-Falangist [10] generals in Spain, having briefly served as General Secretary of the Falange, while Yagüe had been Minister of Air until a falling out with Franco in the summer of 1940. [11] Grandes was renowned for his tactical genius and diligence, while Yagüe was reportedly the only Spanish commander the Condor Legion respected.
Agustín Muñoz Grandes (Left) and Juan Yagüe Blanco (Right)
Since neither group of volunteers were allowed to use official Spanish uniforms, they adopted a uniform comprised of the blue shirts of the Falange, the red berets of the Carlists and the khaki pants of the Army of Africa. Both the Cuerpo Azul and Legión Azul distinguished themselves in combat, playing a pivotal role at the Battle of Stalingrad. Hitler was particularly impressed by their exploits, deeming them “equal to the best” German divisions while also proclaiming Spaniards to be “the only tough Latins.” Officially, Spain remained non-belligerent. Franco had seen the way Hitler refused to assist the Italians in Africa and feared that fully committing himself to the Axis would result in the loss of Spain’s African colonies.
Nevertheless, Britain worried about Franco’s deepening ties with the Axis. Shortly after the German invasion of Poland, Britain placed a strict economic embargo on Spain, in which shippers around the world had to obtain clearance from the British consul for every shipment of cargo to Spain. Royal Navy inspectors maintained a blockade, certifying all ships entering Spain. [12] This blockade drew the ire of American merchants and isolationist groups such as the America First Committee. Britain justified its actions by accusing Spain of re-exporting American petroleum – specifically aviation fuel - to Germany. Ambassador Kennedy described the British blockade as “disgraceful” and railed against Britain for “sticking its nose in the business of a neutral country.” [13]
Shortly after the Fall of France, Churchill sent a personal letter to President Roosevelt, asking him to do whatever he could to stop American companies from exporting oil to Spain. [14] Roosevelt informed Churchill that it was extremely unlikely Congress would approve of such an embargo and the subject was quietly dropped. Spain responded to the British blockade with an embargo of its own, denying the British access to vital supplies of potash and iron ore. Churchill denounced Franco’s actions, once again asking Roosevelt to impose an embargo on Spain. This time, Roosevelt actively pushed congress to pass such an embargo; however, Franco had publicly condemned the Pearl Harbor attacks a month earlier, gaining significant public sympathy in the process. [15] Thus, the embargo failed to pass.
”I fear the Americans have made a tragic error, Samuel. [16] They have failed to understand the consequences of their actions, actions that will have ramifications for decades to come.” – Sir Winston Churchill, January 1942
Notes
1. OTL quote from Franco’s victory speech in Madrid.
2. Operation Felix.
3. Aside from the obvious economic factors, Hitler’s inability to guarantee Spanish control of French North Africa was the primary reason Franco sat the war out.
4. Surprisingly enough, this was an OTL speech given by Franco in July 1941.
5. Hearts of Iron III reference FTW.
6. IOTL, José Félix de Lequerica wasn’t made Foreign Minister until 1945. The reasons for Lequerica’s early appointment will be made clear in the next update.
7. Spain tried this IOTL, but it fell apart.
8. This isn’t that much of a stretch, considering Franco’s rabid anti-Semitism. If anything, what happened OTL was far more implausible. Of course, this also means that around 25,000 to 35,000 more people will die in the Holocaust ITTL. : (
9. Such an agreement was made OTL, but in 1943.
10. Neo-Falangists are those who joined the Falange after the Civil War began, as opposed to before. Don’t be fooled, though: these guys were no less fascistic than the Camisas Viejas.
11. There are rumors that the Germans were planning on having Yagüe overthrow Franco, but this is highly unlikely.
12. Believe it or not, this was done by the British IOTL.
13. Dammit Joseph! How is Jack supposed to have a political career if his father is going to be blamed for losing Europe to the Nazis ITTL?: (
14. OTL, the United States placed an oil embargo on Spain the second the Battle of France ended and the Battle of Britain began. However, it is unlikely this would’ve occurred if the Battle of Britain hadn’t taken place.
15. With American oil still flowing into Spain, Franco is a little more tactful ITTL. OTL, the Spanish sent a telegram to the Japanese, congratulating them on successfully attacking the United States. This cable was intercepted by the OSS, who was not amused. Strangely enough, Franco wasn’t even all that fond of Imperial Japan, seeing their behavior as “barbaric.” Franco even offered to form a second Blue Division to fight alongside the Allies in the Pacific.
16. Referring to Sir Samuel Hoare, British Ambassador to Spain.
==================================
Hope you guys enjoyed Binky's first contribution to the timeline, the next scheduled update written by myself, Part 32; should still be arriving sometime on or before February 22nd. As stated before.
A while back, Binky came to me via PM and asked me if he could write a one off update for the TL about Spain, I agreed, and planned to have it as a special update for the 30th overall one, but delays have pushed it back to being the 31st.
In fact, Binky ended up writing what amounted to several updates worth of content about Spain, so instead of being a one off, the content he has written will be formatted into several proper updates and posted periodically in between my own work. Starting with this one.
With that out of the way now, let's begin reading; shall we?
=======
PART 31
A History of Spain During the Second World War – Part One
“Our regime is based on bayonets and blood, not hypocritical elections.” – Francisco Franco Bahamonde [1]
A propaganda poster commemorating the Nationalist victory and portraying el Caudillo as a dashing, charismatic individual.
PART 31
A History of Spain During the Second World War – Part One
“Our regime is based on bayonets and blood, not hypocritical elections.” – Francisco Franco Bahamonde [1]
A propaganda poster commemorating the Nationalist victory and portraying el Caudillo as a dashing, charismatic individual.
Unlike in Germany and Italy where fascism rose to power through relatively peaceful means, the rise of fascism in Spain was a traumatic, bloody affair. Without the bloodshed of the Spanish Civil War, it is likely the Falange Española would’ve remained but a footnote in Spanish history. Prior to the Civil War, the Falange was shunned by the Spanish right because of its republican and national syndicalist platform. Many conservatives viewed the Falange as a group of crypto-reds, despite the Falange’s fierce anti-Communism. In 1936, the Falange had around 10,000 members and received less than one percent of the vote – a dismal showing, even by the standards of the 1936 election.
However, the rise of the Frente Popular and the subsequent Civil War in Spain resulted in the discreditation of traditional conservatism amongst the Spanish right. Their moderate approach had failed to prevent the left from seizing power, so a more radical solution was needed. With its violent, militaristic and fiercely nationalistic tone, the Falange was able to recruit thousands of new members. Its membership doubled twice over in the first months of the Civil War, and climbed to 650,000 members by 1939. The Falange was made the official political party of the Movimiento Nacional, absorbing the Carlist Communion Tradicionalista in 1937. Nationalist Caudillo Francisco Franco became Jefe Nacional of the Falange, while Ramón Serrano Suñer became head of the Falange’s Junta Politica.
Cuñadísimo Serrano Suñer, visiting the headquarters of the Leibstandarde SS Adolf Hitler.
An alumnus of the University of Bologna, Suñer greatly admired Italian Fascism and had been a close friend of José Antonio Primo de Riviera. Suñer hoped to achieve the goals of the Falange as part of the new, Nationalist government in Spain. Suñer was no stranger to politics, having served in parliament as MP for Zaragosza and as an official in the CEDA - Spain’s largest right-wing political party prior to the Civil War. Franco, on the other hand, was a career military officer who rose through the ranks of the Spanish Army. Franco was already well known for his exploits in Africa during the Rif War and for his brutal suppression of a miners strike in Asturias. Franco had joined the Nationalists after the assassination of José Calvo Sotelo, taking command of the Army of Africa on July 17th, 1936.
With the help of his brother Nicolás, Franco contacted Germany and Italy, who airlifted the Army of Africa to metropolitan Spain. By the end of the year, Franco had been proclaimed Generalísimo of the Nationalist forces and Jefe del Estado. Franco’s diplomatic ties to Germany and Italy, combined with the combat experience of the Army of Africa, propelled him to the top of the Nationalist hierarchy. Franco gained almost unlimited powers and a degree of control over Spanish life that the medieval kings of Spain could only dream of. While Franco was no José Antonio Primo de Riviera, he was sympathetic to the goals of the Axis and to the illiberal, militaristic ideals of fascism.
In March of 1939, Spain joined the Anti-Comintern Pact alongside Germany, Italy and Japan. This was a largely symbolic gesture, as Spain was still recovering from the devastation caused by the Civil War. Nearly 30 percent of Spain’s maritime tonnage had been destroyed, as well as half of Spain’s railway locomotives. Eight percent of Spain’s housing and more than a third of Spain’s livestock had been lost. On the eve of the Italian invasion of France, Mussolini contacted Franco, urging him to invade France alongside Italy. Franco declined Mussolini’s offer, believing the tide would eventually turn in the Allies’ favor.
It would take Spain nearly a decade to recover from the carnage of the Civil War.
After the Fall of France, Franco began to re-assess Spanish neutrality. Spain changed its stance from one of neutrality to one of non-belligerence, just as Italy had done before entering the war. Hours later, Spain occupied the Tangier International Zone. Franco proclaimed it “a temporary measure to guarantee the continued neutrality of the zone.” While Britain accepted this move, Franco’s decision to claim Gibraltar a month later was less well received. In September, Franco sent a communiqué to Hitler, informing the Führer that he was willing to join the Axis war effort in exchange for territorial concessions in Africa – namely French Morocco, western Algeria, French territory in the Sahara and Cameroon - control of Gibraltar and economic aid. Franco urged Hitler to attack Britain, citing the threat the Royal Navy posed to Spain and the continent at large, especially in the Mediterranean.
By late 1940, Hitler’s primary concern was preparing for the coming war in the east. A campaign against Britain would divert valuable resources from Operation Barbarossa. Hitler was also concerned about the state of the Spanish military, fearing that Spain would require substantial amounts of German reinforcement. The OKW determined that seizing Gibraltar would require two army corps, as well as significant amounts of airpower and heavy artillery. [2] Spain’s infrastructure was another concern, especially its railway network. Furthermore, Hitler was concerned that forcing Vichy France to cede territory to Spain would undermine the legitimacy of the Vichy government and result in the defection of French Africa to De Gaulle and the Allied camp. [3] With German troops already tied down in the Balkans, Hitler could ill-afford to expend any more manpower for the likes of Spain.
Less than a week after Operation Barbarossa began, Franco authorized the creation of the División Española de Voluntarios to fight alongside the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. The División Española would be placed under German command, but would technically be subordinate to the Army Ministry in Madrid. All officers of the Division Espanola were drawn from the regular army, as well as nearly seventy percent of its recruits. Contrary to popular belief, civilian Falangists comprised less than a third of the Division’s manpower. Franco’s annual address to the National Council – the Spanish equivalent of Mussolini’s Grand Council of Fascism – was peppered with pro-Axis rhetoric. He denounced “the eternal enemies” of Spain who engaged in “intrigues and betrayal” against it.
Franco went further, declaring “the war was wrongly conceived and the Allies have lost it,” concluding his speech by praising Germany for leading “the battle sought by Europe and Christianity for so many years, and in which the blood of our youth with be united with that of our comrades in the Axis, as a living expression of solidarity.” The ferocity and rhetoric of his speech came as a surprise to both the German and Italian ambassadors, who commented on the imprudence of these remarks. [4] By August, Franco’s remarks went from imprudent to prophetic as Leningrad fell to the Germans. This resulted in a surge of new recruits in Spain, eager to crush the Bolshevik menace. [5]
Francisco Franco visits the División Azul before they cross the Pyrenees and head to Germany for further training.
A month after Leningrad fell, Suñer met with Franco at El Pardo to discuss the German war in the east. Suñer suggested participation in the German war effort against the Soviet Union could serve as a means of acquiring vital economic and military aid. Despite his bombastic speech two months prior, Franco remained concerned about the consequences of direct Spanish participation in the war. Suñer informed his brother-in-law that he’d ordered Foreign Minister José Félix de Lequerica and Ambassador José Finat [6] to draft a plan of action that would prevent Spain from coming into conflict with Britain, while still aiding Germany and the Axis war effort. Three weeks after the meeting at El Pardo, Léquerica and Finat met with Von Ribbentrop in Nuremburg.
Spain offered to supply 60,000 troops and 300 pilots to the Axis war effort, as well as to stop selling wolfram on the open market in favor of a quota system. Doing so would greatly benefit Germany, since the sale of Spanish wolfram on the open market gave an unfair advantage to Britain with its larger reserves of hard currency. [7] To allay German fears of a renewed conflict in the west, Finat guaranteed that Spain would remain neutral towards Britain and Free France, regardless of Spanish territorial ambitions. More ominously, Spain also promised to close its borders to Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. [8]
Spain would pay back its debt from the Civil War in four instalments, which Germany would use to purchase wolfram. Germany, meanwhile, would provide Spain with a minimal amount of military material at cost, with further economic and military aid to be provided once hostilities ended. [9] On October 4th , 1941 - the same day Spanish troops entered into combat on the Eastern Front – the Léquerica-Ribbentrop Agreement was ratified by both parties in Berlin. With it, Spain became a co-belligerent in Germany’s war with the Soviet Union, while simultaneously maintaining a façade of neutrality.
Back in Madrid, the Army Ministry reorganized the Division Espanola de Voluntarios into the Cuerpo Española de Voluntarios, while an air wing known as the Aviación Legionaria was established to fight alongside the Cuerpo Espanola. Falangist Generals Agustín Muñoz Grandes and Juan Yagüe Blanco were placed in charge of the volunteers. Grandes was one of the most prominent neo-Falangist [10] generals in Spain, having briefly served as General Secretary of the Falange, while Yagüe had been Minister of Air until a falling out with Franco in the summer of 1940. [11] Grandes was renowned for his tactical genius and diligence, while Yagüe was reportedly the only Spanish commander the Condor Legion respected.
Agustín Muñoz Grandes (Left) and Juan Yagüe Blanco (Right)
Since neither group of volunteers were allowed to use official Spanish uniforms, they adopted a uniform comprised of the blue shirts of the Falange, the red berets of the Carlists and the khaki pants of the Army of Africa. Both the Cuerpo Azul and Legión Azul distinguished themselves in combat, playing a pivotal role at the Battle of Stalingrad. Hitler was particularly impressed by their exploits, deeming them “equal to the best” German divisions while also proclaiming Spaniards to be “the only tough Latins.” Officially, Spain remained non-belligerent. Franco had seen the way Hitler refused to assist the Italians in Africa and feared that fully committing himself to the Axis would result in the loss of Spain’s African colonies.
Nevertheless, Britain worried about Franco’s deepening ties with the Axis. Shortly after the German invasion of Poland, Britain placed a strict economic embargo on Spain, in which shippers around the world had to obtain clearance from the British consul for every shipment of cargo to Spain. Royal Navy inspectors maintained a blockade, certifying all ships entering Spain. [12] This blockade drew the ire of American merchants and isolationist groups such as the America First Committee. Britain justified its actions by accusing Spain of re-exporting American petroleum – specifically aviation fuel - to Germany. Ambassador Kennedy described the British blockade as “disgraceful” and railed against Britain for “sticking its nose in the business of a neutral country.” [13]
Shortly after the Fall of France, Churchill sent a personal letter to President Roosevelt, asking him to do whatever he could to stop American companies from exporting oil to Spain. [14] Roosevelt informed Churchill that it was extremely unlikely Congress would approve of such an embargo and the subject was quietly dropped. Spain responded to the British blockade with an embargo of its own, denying the British access to vital supplies of potash and iron ore. Churchill denounced Franco’s actions, once again asking Roosevelt to impose an embargo on Spain. This time, Roosevelt actively pushed congress to pass such an embargo; however, Franco had publicly condemned the Pearl Harbor attacks a month earlier, gaining significant public sympathy in the process. [15] Thus, the embargo failed to pass.
”I fear the Americans have made a tragic error, Samuel. [16] They have failed to understand the consequences of their actions, actions that will have ramifications for decades to come.” – Sir Winston Churchill, January 1942
Notes
1. OTL quote from Franco’s victory speech in Madrid.
2. Operation Felix.
3. Aside from the obvious economic factors, Hitler’s inability to guarantee Spanish control of French North Africa was the primary reason Franco sat the war out.
4. Surprisingly enough, this was an OTL speech given by Franco in July 1941.
5. Hearts of Iron III reference FTW.
6. IOTL, José Félix de Lequerica wasn’t made Foreign Minister until 1945. The reasons for Lequerica’s early appointment will be made clear in the next update.
7. Spain tried this IOTL, but it fell apart.
8. This isn’t that much of a stretch, considering Franco’s rabid anti-Semitism. If anything, what happened OTL was far more implausible.
Of course, this also means that around 25,000 to 35,000 more people will die in the Holocaust ITTL. : (9. Such an agreement was made OTL, but in 1943.
10. Neo-Falangists are those who joined the Falange after the Civil War began, as opposed to before. Don’t be fooled, though: these guys were no less fascistic than the Camisas Viejas.
11. There are rumors that the Germans were planning on having Yagüe overthrow Franco, but this is highly unlikely.
12. Believe it or not, this was done by the British IOTL.
13. Dammit Joseph! How is Jack supposed to have a political career if his father is going to be blamed for losing Europe to the Nazis ITTL?
: (14. OTL, the United States placed an oil embargo on Spain the second the Battle of France ended and the Battle of Britain began. However, it is unlikely this would’ve occurred if the Battle of Britain hadn’t taken place.
15. With American oil still flowing into Spain, Franco is a little more tactful ITTL. OTL, the Spanish sent a telegram to the Japanese, congratulating them on successfully attacking the United States. This cable was intercepted by the OSS, who was not amused. Strangely enough, Franco wasn’t even all that fond of Imperial Japan, seeing their behavior as “barbaric.” Franco even offered to form a second Blue Division to fight alongside the Allies in the Pacific.
16. Referring to Sir Samuel Hoare, British Ambassador to Spain.
==================================
Hope you guys enjoyed Binky's first contribution to the timeline, the next scheduled update written by myself, Part 32; should still be arriving sometime on or before February 22nd. As stated before.
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Hmmm…regarding the meeting in France. Petain was old as dirt to start with and the stress of ruling can't be helping.
Petain's already been long dead, but that meeting still should prove to be interesting.
And it's in Algeria anyway.
Is he now! I should've known. Who's in charge of no-longer-in-Vichy-but-still-Vichy France?
The current President of the Council of Ministers of the French State is one Pierre de Hérain, Petain's step-son, former Chief of the French Security Forces who succeeded Pierre Laval in 1952 after the latter was thrown out of power (under pressure from Germany) for almost instigating a war between Free and Vichy France.
Okay, I am not going to lie guys, I have way too much time on my hands, so since I do have way too much time on my hands, I have time to write, thus; you're getting Chapter 32 today.
Even before that fateful day in January of 1960 when Soviet President Lavrentiy Beria met his ultimate mortal end at the hands of an assassin's bullet, it was clear as day to every single party with stakes in the matter that the geopolitical situation in East Asia was not only extremely tenuous and unstable, but was also deteriorating with each passing day - and not even solely because of the Soviet Civil War or even the War in Vietnam, but because of the growing ideological divide between the two main hegemonic powers of East Asia, that being China and the United States; a divide which was also doing much to further destabilize the already unstable situation that existed at the time.
The official Sino-American Split that occurred during the period between 1958 and 1960 would only mean a worsening of the geopolitical situation in the region, with the Chinese government moving to a point where it openly opposed American activities in the region and moved towards undermining them by any means necessary, however, in order to understand how the relationship between the two countries got to such an ugly point, it is required that we go back a few years and see what influenced this course that the Chinese government would take; and see what effects it would have on the situation in East Asia.
Figure 1: Hu Shih, Chinese Foreign Minister from 1953 to 1965; and one of the main proponents behind the Sino-American Split
The volatile and openly hostile nature of the modern diplomatic relationship between the Chinese and American governments can often cause one to forget that said relationship - which dates back to the earliest days of American independence, had in actuality long been one that was at least cordial in nature, and often outright friendly depending on the specific point in history, this was no more true then in the immediate period after the Second World War - the "so called" historical high point of Chinese-American relations, a high point which had developed from a variety of factors, including among other things, the fact that both countries had been close military and diplomatic allies during the Second World War in their coinciding battles against the old Empire of Japan, as well as significant material and diplomatic support that Washington had given the Kuomintang-led Republican government during the Chinese Civil War in both the pre-war, war and post-war years - assistance which would ultimately help contribute to both the KMT's eventual victory on the battlefield over the Communist Party and the later reunification of the country. Of course, while these were just two of the reasons why relations between Beijing and Washington came to be as friendly as they were during this time period, they were essentially the two main ones, and thanks to the diplomatic closeness that developed from these various factors; it would not have been factually wrong for one to have considered China and the United States to be close diplomatic and military allies when the turn of the new decade came in 1950.
However, the outbreak of the Cold War around the same time had forced a significant leftward shift in American foreign policy as a counteract to growing Fascist influence internationally, a shift which in turn deeply angered many within the Chinese government, who not only saw the growing American support to socialist countries and political groups in the region and internationally as a giant diplomatic betrayal, but also as a huge threat to China's own security and stability as well; thanks to the continued underground existence of the Chinese Communist Party.
While China would initially maintain the friendly relationship that it held with the United States - or at least some form of facade that resembled said relationship, it was becoming quite clear within the upper echelons of the Chinese government that it was not a relationship that could be maintained in the long term, and that they would need to begin shifting away from Washington's influence if they were to maintain their own independence; and prevent the country from being surrounded by potentially hostile socialist nation states. In fact, one can clearly see from examining the covert ties that the Chinese government developed with Ngo Dinh Diem's "Vietnamese Liberation Front" during the early 1950's, that the country had already begun moving away from the Americans diplomatically even long before the actual split would formally take place, something which was clear as day to even the Americans themselves; who were most assuredly not oblivious to the fact that China was steadily drifting away from it's sphere.
As the decade continued to progress - and diplomatic relations between Beijing and Washington continued to deteriorate further, the Chinese government would slowly begin to grow more and more blatantly overt in regards to the actions that it took towards undermining both the stability of America's allies in the region, as well the various diplomatic and military actions that the American government itself undertook in addition, the moves that the Chinese government would ultimately take over the course of the decade varied greatly in regards to the specific goals and aims that they sought to achieve, and consisted of actions such as the sending of equipment of both lethal and non-lethal nature to the military forces of Diem's Northern Vietnamese government, the deployment of military advisers into the field in Vietnam to help train the forces of the VLF in both conventional and guerrilla combat tactics, and the material and financial supplying of the Russian Fascist Party and it's military and terrorist activities against the Soviet government and Russian republican forces, the undertaking of these actions by the Chinese government would, somewhat predictably, only result in the further souring of already deteriorating American-Chinese diplomatic relations; and began to set the stage for the ultimate break that was soon to occur.
Figure 2: German Führer und Reichskanzler Albert Speer, surrounded by Generals and SS Bodyguards, departs off his private plane and onto the tarmac of Beijing International Airport, having arrived to conduct a diplomatic visit of the Chinese capital; circa 1958
Even in spite of the many blatantly anti-American actions that were undertaken by the Chinese government in Vietnam and the Soviet Union, there were still some individuals among the higher circles of Washington that genuinely believed that the diplomatic rift between the two countries could be repaired; and that the situation in East Asia could subsequently be stabilized as a result. However, it soon became crystal clear to pretty much everyone in the American government - including many of the individuals that had continued to hold out hope (however little) for a possible rapprochement, that the Chinese government was completely and utterly disinterested in the idea of any sort of diplomatic reconciliation with the United States - a fact which would later be confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt when Beijing began to openly realign itself geopolitically towards Berlin's camp during the later years of the 1950's, with the final nails in the coffin of cordial Chinese-American relations ultimately being driven in by the dual swinging hammers of Albert Speer's official diplomatic visit to the Chinese capital in October of 1958, and Chiang Kai-Shek's "Master Plan" Speech, spoken nearly two years later on January 16th, 1960, events which would serve to not only sever the final links that existed between China and the United States, but also ensured the ultimate finality of what would come to be known to history as the "Sino-American Split"; even if the split in practice had already existed for quite some time.
The policies of diplomatic reconciliation with the German government and general political realignment towards the Tripartite Pact that were pursued by the Chinese government during this time period were ones that had largely came about due to general convenience, as not only did Germany and China largely share the same anti-Communist and anti-American beliefs, but the governments of both countries also possessed somewhat overlapping interests in regards to their respective East Asian foreign policies - particularly when in regards to their similar and coinciding efforts aimed at preventing American influence from penetrating further into the region; thus making the overall idea of pursuing some form of informal or formal diplomatic or military ties with the Germans both a practical and pragmatic one in the eyes of the Chinese government.
The Germans on the other hand, pursued renewed ties with the Chinese government for very different - if somewhat similar reasons to the ones that the Chinese themselves did, as when one takes a close examination of Berlin's East Asian foreign policy at the time, one can see that the Germans main goal in the region was to completely and utterly destroy what remained of the Soviet Union by any means necessary, with a secondary goal of dismantling America's alliance structure in the region - and subsequently building their own via the support of local fascist movements; serving as something to be achieved once the destruction of the Soviet Union had been fully realized by one means or another.
Thus, even through the Germans were fully aware of the fact that China was likely too large and too independent-minded to be controlled in the same manner that it's so called European "allies" could, the many potential benefits for their own foreign agenda that could come from pursuing renewed ties with Beijing, such as a friendly China potentially serving as not only a metaphorical dagger into the heart of ACT's East Asian alliance system - thereby causing instability within it and subsequently forcing the Americans to divert even more of their own resources towards propping up the Viet Minh and the Soviet Union, but also as a potential springboard for further covert or non-covert activities in East and West Asia by German agents, would make the idea an incredibly attractive one to many top officials within the German government, attractive enough to the point where officials realized they just couldn't let it go by the wayside - even with the potential long-term risks that came with it, and as such, Berlin would ultimately choose to accept China's so called "olive branch" offer; a decision which would prove to be one of the wisest ones made by Germany throughout the entirety of the Cold War.
Figure 3: General Maxwell Taylor, United States Ambassador to China from 1961 to 1965; and one of the main architects of US foreign policy in East Asia during the 1960's
American reaction to China's break from it's sphere and subsequent geopolitical realignment towards the Greater German Reich, was, as one might expect, generally poor across the board within the entire country, this was most particularly the case with members of the general American public, among which, upon closer study, one can see that there was a relative increase of anti-Chinese sentiments in the wake of both Speer's diplomatic visit to Beijing in 1958 - and the Chinese-German Treaty of Friendship signed by officials from both governments a year later in 1959, these sentiments even boiled over to the point of violence in some cases, as seen with the increase in murders of Chinese Americans - and Asian-Americans in general; that occurred during the time period between 1958 and 1961. Of course, most Americans did not let their fears about the situation in Asia reach to the point where they sought to hurt others, but the increasingly chaotic situation overseas was leaving many deeply worried about their own safety; especially if the Chinese began to seek atomic weapons of their own.
The United States government also found itself deeply concerned by both the general animosity coming from the government in Beijing, as well as the Chinese political realignment towards the Germans, as the existence of a openly hostile and increasingly fascistic China posed a huge threat to not only American political and military interests within the region, but the overall stability and security of Washington's East Asian allies - the Soviet Union, Korea, Vietnam and Japan, etc.; in addition. Washington was particularly concerned with the theoretical threat of a Chinese military incursion into either the Soviet Union or Vietnam - presumably with the goal of toppling the governments of America's allies within the region and installing new hostile ones, in order to prevent this theoretical incursion from happening, the Americans would ultimately end up over the following three years deploy over 3,500 ground troops to the Soviet Union, and 1,500 to South Vietnam - as well as additional military equipment and aid, to not only protect American assets within the region; but to deter the Chinese from taking any overt moves of aggression against American allies as well.
In addition, the American government would also move to strengthen it's own political and military ties with it's minor allies and other friendly states within East and West Asia, and in particular Mongolia, Laos, and Cambodia, three states whom American intelligence agencies deemed to be in the most imminent danger of falling to direct fascist control (especially the latter two, who were already suffering from existing fascist insurgencies), and as such, an increase in military and material aid to these smaller countries would follow suit over the next several years, in addition to the conventional aid, the US Military - in conjunction with the White House, would also authorize the deployment of additional military advisers to the above mentioned countries; in order to assist the local forces; and train them so that they would be more adapt at fighting the so called
Figure 4: American troops lounge around at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California; waiting as the transport that will take them to their deployment Vladivostok, Russian SFSR; fuels up on the nearby runway
However, the renewed programs of aid to Vietnam in particularly would do little to stop the steady stream of Chinese volunteers and material aid from the Chinese government that would come across the border to assist the Vietnamese Liberation Front, and by the beginning of 1960, Diem's military forces (thanks in large part to this aid received from China) had turned the war back in their favor, and ultimately resulted in much of the north of the country falling under the direct control, the focus on capturing the North however had disastrous consequences for the VLF's regular and irregular forces that were operating in the south of the country, resulting in many of them being easily mopped up by the Viet Minh; who began to secure their tight hold on "South Vietnam".
As a result of the events of 1958, 1959, 1960, the Vietnam War, and the overall situation within East Asia had taken a turn towards stalemate and complication, as what was essentially a three way covert fight for influence in the region between ACT - headed by the Americans and Soviets, China, and Germany (the latter two however closely linked due to their close alliance) had seemingly broken out, as later events would prove however, 1960 was far from the most chaotic point in East Asia's modern history; nor would it be anywhere near the bloodiest.
=======
PART 32
Only Speer Could Go to China
"It has come to the attention of myself and others in recent years that the Chinese people's safety and well-being is at this current point in history under great threat from the American devil we once considered a friend to our people, the socialist devils in the White House have however shown this so called friendship to be a grand facade perpetuated on their part for decades, seeing as they continue to support and supply deviant and decadent socialist regimes in every single direction along China's borders, regimes that in co-operation with their suppliers seek to murder innocent Chinese people and install an oppressive Socialist regime over our ancient land, I address you today as your leader for one reason, to announce that we will not only refuse to stand by and let the implementation of Washington's master plan to surround China succeed, and that we will fight it in any way that we can as well; even if it eventually means war"
- Excerpt from Chinese President Chiang Kai-Shek's so called "Master Plan Speech", a speech which signified the official Sino-American split.
PART 32
Only Speer Could Go to China
"It has come to the attention of myself and others in recent years that the Chinese people's safety and well-being is at this current point in history under great threat from the American devil we once considered a friend to our people, the socialist devils in the White House have however shown this so called friendship to be a grand facade perpetuated on their part for decades, seeing as they continue to support and supply deviant and decadent socialist regimes in every single direction along China's borders, regimes that in co-operation with their suppliers seek to murder innocent Chinese people and install an oppressive Socialist regime over our ancient land, I address you today as your leader for one reason, to announce that we will not only refuse to stand by and let the implementation of Washington's master plan to surround China succeed, and that we will fight it in any way that we can as well; even if it eventually means war"
- Excerpt from Chinese President Chiang Kai-Shek's so called "Master Plan Speech", a speech which signified the official Sino-American split.
Even before that fateful day in January of 1960 when Soviet President Lavrentiy Beria met his ultimate mortal end at the hands of an assassin's bullet, it was clear as day to every single party with stakes in the matter that the geopolitical situation in East Asia was not only extremely tenuous and unstable, but was also deteriorating with each passing day - and not even solely because of the Soviet Civil War or even the War in Vietnam, but because of the growing ideological divide between the two main hegemonic powers of East Asia, that being China and the United States; a divide which was also doing much to further destabilize the already unstable situation that existed at the time.
The official Sino-American Split that occurred during the period between 1958 and 1960 would only mean a worsening of the geopolitical situation in the region, with the Chinese government moving to a point where it openly opposed American activities in the region and moved towards undermining them by any means necessary, however, in order to understand how the relationship between the two countries got to such an ugly point, it is required that we go back a few years and see what influenced this course that the Chinese government would take; and see what effects it would have on the situation in East Asia.
Figure 1: Hu Shih, Chinese Foreign Minister from 1953 to 1965; and one of the main proponents behind the Sino-American Split
The volatile and openly hostile nature of the modern diplomatic relationship between the Chinese and American governments can often cause one to forget that said relationship - which dates back to the earliest days of American independence, had in actuality long been one that was at least cordial in nature, and often outright friendly depending on the specific point in history, this was no more true then in the immediate period after the Second World War - the "so called" historical high point of Chinese-American relations, a high point which had developed from a variety of factors, including among other things, the fact that both countries had been close military and diplomatic allies during the Second World War in their coinciding battles against the old Empire of Japan, as well as significant material and diplomatic support that Washington had given the Kuomintang-led Republican government during the Chinese Civil War in both the pre-war, war and post-war years - assistance which would ultimately help contribute to both the KMT's eventual victory on the battlefield over the Communist Party and the later reunification of the country. Of course, while these were just two of the reasons why relations between Beijing and Washington came to be as friendly as they were during this time period, they were essentially the two main ones, and thanks to the diplomatic closeness that developed from these various factors; it would not have been factually wrong for one to have considered China and the United States to be close diplomatic and military allies when the turn of the new decade came in 1950.
However, the outbreak of the Cold War around the same time had forced a significant leftward shift in American foreign policy as a counteract to growing Fascist influence internationally, a shift which in turn deeply angered many within the Chinese government, who not only saw the growing American support to socialist countries and political groups in the region and internationally as a giant diplomatic betrayal, but also as a huge threat to China's own security and stability as well; thanks to the continued underground existence of the Chinese Communist Party.
While China would initially maintain the friendly relationship that it held with the United States - or at least some form of facade that resembled said relationship, it was becoming quite clear within the upper echelons of the Chinese government that it was not a relationship that could be maintained in the long term, and that they would need to begin shifting away from Washington's influence if they were to maintain their own independence; and prevent the country from being surrounded by potentially hostile socialist nation states. In fact, one can clearly see from examining the covert ties that the Chinese government developed with Ngo Dinh Diem's "Vietnamese Liberation Front" during the early 1950's, that the country had already begun moving away from the Americans diplomatically even long before the actual split would formally take place, something which was clear as day to even the Americans themselves; who were most assuredly not oblivious to the fact that China was steadily drifting away from it's sphere.
As the decade continued to progress - and diplomatic relations between Beijing and Washington continued to deteriorate further, the Chinese government would slowly begin to grow more and more blatantly overt in regards to the actions that it took towards undermining both the stability of America's allies in the region, as well the various diplomatic and military actions that the American government itself undertook in addition, the moves that the Chinese government would ultimately take over the course of the decade varied greatly in regards to the specific goals and aims that they sought to achieve, and consisted of actions such as the sending of equipment of both lethal and non-lethal nature to the military forces of Diem's Northern Vietnamese government, the deployment of military advisers into the field in Vietnam to help train the forces of the VLF in both conventional and guerrilla combat tactics, and the material and financial supplying of the Russian Fascist Party and it's military and terrorist activities against the Soviet government and Russian republican forces, the undertaking of these actions by the Chinese government would, somewhat predictably, only result in the further souring of already deteriorating American-Chinese diplomatic relations; and began to set the stage for the ultimate break that was soon to occur.
Figure 2: German Führer und Reichskanzler Albert Speer, surrounded by Generals and SS Bodyguards, departs off his private plane and onto the tarmac of Beijing International Airport, having arrived to conduct a diplomatic visit of the Chinese capital; circa 1958
Even in spite of the many blatantly anti-American actions that were undertaken by the Chinese government in Vietnam and the Soviet Union, there were still some individuals among the higher circles of Washington that genuinely believed that the diplomatic rift between the two countries could be repaired; and that the situation in East Asia could subsequently be stabilized as a result. However, it soon became crystal clear to pretty much everyone in the American government - including many of the individuals that had continued to hold out hope (however little) for a possible rapprochement, that the Chinese government was completely and utterly disinterested in the idea of any sort of diplomatic reconciliation with the United States - a fact which would later be confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt when Beijing began to openly realign itself geopolitically towards Berlin's camp during the later years of the 1950's, with the final nails in the coffin of cordial Chinese-American relations ultimately being driven in by the dual swinging hammers of Albert Speer's official diplomatic visit to the Chinese capital in October of 1958, and Chiang Kai-Shek's "Master Plan" Speech, spoken nearly two years later on January 16th, 1960, events which would serve to not only sever the final links that existed between China and the United States, but also ensured the ultimate finality of what would come to be known to history as the "Sino-American Split"; even if the split in practice had already existed for quite some time.
The policies of diplomatic reconciliation with the German government and general political realignment towards the Tripartite Pact that were pursued by the Chinese government during this time period were ones that had largely came about due to general convenience, as not only did Germany and China largely share the same anti-Communist and anti-American beliefs, but the governments of both countries also possessed somewhat overlapping interests in regards to their respective East Asian foreign policies - particularly when in regards to their similar and coinciding efforts aimed at preventing American influence from penetrating further into the region; thus making the overall idea of pursuing some form of informal or formal diplomatic or military ties with the Germans both a practical and pragmatic one in the eyes of the Chinese government.
The Germans on the other hand, pursued renewed ties with the Chinese government for very different - if somewhat similar reasons to the ones that the Chinese themselves did, as when one takes a close examination of Berlin's East Asian foreign policy at the time, one can see that the Germans main goal in the region was to completely and utterly destroy what remained of the Soviet Union by any means necessary, with a secondary goal of dismantling America's alliance structure in the region - and subsequently building their own via the support of local fascist movements; serving as something to be achieved once the destruction of the Soviet Union had been fully realized by one means or another.
Thus, even through the Germans were fully aware of the fact that China was likely too large and too independent-minded to be controlled in the same manner that it's so called European "allies" could, the many potential benefits for their own foreign agenda that could come from pursuing renewed ties with Beijing, such as a friendly China potentially serving as not only a metaphorical dagger into the heart of ACT's East Asian alliance system - thereby causing instability within it and subsequently forcing the Americans to divert even more of their own resources towards propping up the Viet Minh and the Soviet Union, but also as a potential springboard for further covert or non-covert activities in East and West Asia by German agents, would make the idea an incredibly attractive one to many top officials within the German government, attractive enough to the point where officials realized they just couldn't let it go by the wayside - even with the potential long-term risks that came with it, and as such, Berlin would ultimately choose to accept China's so called "olive branch" offer; a decision which would prove to be one of the wisest ones made by Germany throughout the entirety of the Cold War.
Figure 3: General Maxwell Taylor, United States Ambassador to China from 1961 to 1965; and one of the main architects of US foreign policy in East Asia during the 1960's
American reaction to China's break from it's sphere and subsequent geopolitical realignment towards the Greater German Reich, was, as one might expect, generally poor across the board within the entire country, this was most particularly the case with members of the general American public, among which, upon closer study, one can see that there was a relative increase of anti-Chinese sentiments in the wake of both Speer's diplomatic visit to Beijing in 1958 - and the Chinese-German Treaty of Friendship signed by officials from both governments a year later in 1959, these sentiments even boiled over to the point of violence in some cases, as seen with the increase in murders of Chinese Americans - and Asian-Americans in general; that occurred during the time period between 1958 and 1961. Of course, most Americans did not let their fears about the situation in Asia reach to the point where they sought to hurt others, but the increasingly chaotic situation overseas was leaving many deeply worried about their own safety; especially if the Chinese began to seek atomic weapons of their own.
The United States government also found itself deeply concerned by both the general animosity coming from the government in Beijing, as well as the Chinese political realignment towards the Germans, as the existence of a openly hostile and increasingly fascistic China posed a huge threat to not only American political and military interests within the region, but the overall stability and security of Washington's East Asian allies - the Soviet Union, Korea, Vietnam and Japan, etc.; in addition. Washington was particularly concerned with the theoretical threat of a Chinese military incursion into either the Soviet Union or Vietnam - presumably with the goal of toppling the governments of America's allies within the region and installing new hostile ones, in order to prevent this theoretical incursion from happening, the Americans would ultimately end up over the following three years deploy over 3,500 ground troops to the Soviet Union, and 1,500 to South Vietnam - as well as additional military equipment and aid, to not only protect American assets within the region; but to deter the Chinese from taking any overt moves of aggression against American allies as well.
In addition, the American government would also move to strengthen it's own political and military ties with it's minor allies and other friendly states within East and West Asia, and in particular Mongolia, Laos, and Cambodia, three states whom American intelligence agencies deemed to be in the most imminent danger of falling to direct fascist control (especially the latter two, who were already suffering from existing fascist insurgencies), and as such, an increase in military and material aid to these smaller countries would follow suit over the next several years, in addition to the conventional aid, the US Military - in conjunction with the White House, would also authorize the deployment of additional military advisers to the above mentioned countries; in order to assist the local forces; and train them so that they would be more adapt at fighting the so called
"modern war"
.
Figure 4: American troops lounge around at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California; waiting as the transport that will take them to their deployment Vladivostok, Russian SFSR; fuels up on the nearby runway
However, the renewed programs of aid to Vietnam in particularly would do little to stop the steady stream of Chinese volunteers and material aid from the Chinese government that would come across the border to assist the Vietnamese Liberation Front, and by the beginning of 1960, Diem's military forces (thanks in large part to this aid received from China) had turned the war back in their favor, and ultimately resulted in much of the north of the country falling under the direct control, the focus on capturing the North however had disastrous consequences for the VLF's regular and irregular forces that were operating in the south of the country, resulting in many of them being easily mopped up by the Viet Minh; who began to secure their tight hold on "South Vietnam".
As a result of the events of 1958, 1959, 1960, the Vietnam War, and the overall situation within East Asia had taken a turn towards stalemate and complication, as what was essentially a three way covert fight for influence in the region between ACT - headed by the Americans and Soviets, China, and Germany (the latter two however closely linked due to their close alliance) had seemingly broken out, as later events would prove however, 1960 was far from the most chaotic point in East Asia's modern history; nor would it be anywhere near the bloodiest.
The US is getting involved in the mess that is the Soviet Union, and Vietnam!?* I expected things to get bad, but this is worse than I thought it would be, and once the whole counter-culture thing kicks off in the US (if it kicks off) it is going to get a whole lot worse. I can't even hold out hope for the future thanks to...
*And Laos, Cambodia, Mongolia...
Regardless, enjoyable updates Kaiser and Binky. Dark as they were, it was a good thing to get to read while I unwind after work.
*And Laos, Cambodia, Mongolia...
While I haven't exactly decided how extensive and "hands on" the involvement of the United States into Vietnam will ultimately get (probably not as extensive as what I have planned for the Soviet Union at least), I will say that sadly, it is indeed going to get very bad, the US doesn't really have any sort of clue what the hell it exactly it is getting itself into, but once the events I have planned that will drive the US fully into war mode occur in a few updates time, Uncle Sam is truly going to find out the intricate issues that come from fighting (possibly multiple) land wars in Asia; especially if the intervention into the Soviet Civil War goes as haywire as you all expect it to go.
However, some form of the counter-culture, however unrecognizable from the OTL one it may be, will indeed come.... eventually; I can guarantee that for you all.
And nice picking out the minor insight into how the modern day of the Valkyrie-verse is, I hoped you guys would notice that.
Thanks a ton for letting me contribute to your TL. I promise I won't let you down.
I should've known Chiang was gonna' defect to the German camp ITTL. After all, the only reason he accepted American help was because of the fact the Germans dumped them in favor of the Japanese. Besides, the KMT was pretty much a Fascist party under Chiang, so China and Germany are ideologically closer to one another than the U.S. is to China. But oh boy, the U.S. is in for the fight of its life. The largest country on earth has just joined the Axis camp, much of Latin America (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina) is Fascist and nearly all of Europe. Meanwhile, Free France is losing control of its African territories and will probably have to evacuate to Guyana, guaranteeing that Free France will lose Great Power status (if it ever had it at all - there isn't much industry in the Sahara ). I'll bet TTL's Brits and Americans are feeling as though the Reich is unstoppable right now.
I promise I won't let you down. I should've known Chiang was gonna' defect to the German camp ITTL. After all, the only reason he accepted American help was because of the fact the Germans dumped them in favor of the Japanese. Besides, the KMT was pretty much a Fascist party under Chiang, so China and Germany are ideologically closer to one another than the U.S. is to China. But oh boy, the U.S. is in for the fight of its life. The largest country on earth has just joined the Axis camp, much of Latin America (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina) is Fascist and nearly all of Europe.
Meanwhile, Free France is losing control of its African territories and will probably have to evacuate to Guyana, guaranteeing that Free France will lose Great Power status (if it ever had it at all - there isn't much industry in the Sahara ). I'll bet TTL's Brits and Americans are feeling as though the Reich is unstoppable right now. Thanks a ton for letting me contribute to your TL.
I should've known Chiang was gonna' defect to the German camp ITTL. After all, the only reason he accepted American help was because of the fact the Germans dumped them in favor of the Japanese. Besides, the KMT was pretty much a Fascist party under Chiang, so China and Germany are ideologically closer to one another than the U.S. is to China. But oh boy, the U.S. is in for the fight of its life. The largest country on earth has just joined the Axis camp, much of Latin America (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina) is Fascist and nearly all of Europe.
Technically, Canada is probably the largest (in terms of overall territorial size) country in this world at this point and time, with the US, Germany, the USSR and China not far behind in that regards; through China would probably still be the most populated one. If that is what you meant.
But you are correct in regards to the fact that the US is most assuredly in for the fight of it's life, as when considering all the events that have happened so far up to 1960 (which we have now formally reached), as well as the fact that the Reich has a slight lead in the arms race, you come to realize that the United States is for all intents and purposes technically losing the Cold War at this point, and with the upcoming military intervention into the Soviet Civil War coming soon, a possible war in Vietnam on the horizon, and the the steady crumbling of it's ally in Free France; things are sadly not looking very good in the long-term for the United States.
Of course, since we already know that the Germans are eventually going to collapse, and thus lose the Cold War, we know that things will ultimately turn around for the West at some point; but when that happens is the million dollar question I must say.
Admiral Halsey
Banned
Calling it right now that either the Soviet intervention or Vietnam or hell even both is when things start turning around for the west. Why do I think so you ask? Well short of causing the US to break apart they can only bring good(mostly anyways) things long term for the US in the end.